Tim Seifert and Finn Allen put on a record-breaking opening partnership as New Zealand made it two wins from two matches with a 10-wicket defeat of the United Arab Emirates.
They guided New Zealand to victory with the highest partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cup history, breaking the previous mark of 170 held by England’s Jos Buttler and Alex Hales in a 10-wicket win over India in the 2022 semi-final.
Batting first in Chennai, half-centuries from captain Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu took the UAE to 173-6, a total they would have thought gave them a fighting chance against the 2021 finalists.
But any hope of a UAE challenge evaporated quickly as New Zealand openers Seifert and Allen produced a ruthless exhibition of hitting to help their side reach the target with 28 balls to spare.
Having hit a 42-ball 65 in Sunday’s win against Afghanistan, Seifert struck his second consecutive half-century in 23 balls and remained unbeaten on 89, while Allen hit a 50-ball 84, which included five sixes.
Earlier, a 107-run second-wicket stand between Waseem, who remained unbeaten on 66 from 45 balls, and Sharafu had given the UAE a solid platform to build on.
Sharafu, born in the Indian state of Kerala not too far away from Chennai, attacked the off-side freely for his 47-ball 55 and it took a brilliant relay catch involving Mark Chapman and Mitch Santner to dismiss the batter.
That wicket stalled UAE’s charge but Waseem and Mayank Kumar hit 27 runs off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to wrest back some control. However, their highest total in a T20 World Cup game ultimately proved too little to trouble New Zealand.
New Zealand will next face South Africa in Ahmedabad on Saturday while the UAE meet Canada in Delhi on Friday.
